Reasons against Suhua Freeway

When I was little, I went to Hualien with my grandmother twice every year, for New Year vacation and summer vacation, and I stayed in my relations’ house for a couple weeks. Last autumn, I went to Hualien with friends, and I was still amazed by its beautiful natural scenes. Now the government is going to build the Suhua Freeway for the sake of growing the economy. Some people think the freeway can save time when commuting between Northern Taiwan and Eastern Taiwan, thus more tourists will go to Hualien. Hualien citizen will also be able to commute to Northern Taiwan for work, and western industries will be replicated in Hualien. They think the freeway can reduce unemployment and the rate of outward migration. However, there are some widely discussed critical reasons against the Suhua Freeway based on environmental protection, economic benefits, legitimacy, and some substitutions which are better and more economical.
First of all, the construction process of the Suhua Freeway damages the environment and risks the lives of people. Its route passes through seventeen environmentally-sensitive areas (protected areas, Taroko National Park, development-restrained areas, etc.), and nine of its tunnels are to be constructed on geologically dangerous structures such as faults. Besides, Hualien and Taitung have the highest frequencies of earthquake. The safety of the freeway is unguaranteed. Similar to the Hsuehshan Tunnel, building the Suhua Freeway will cut water arteries. We will lose more groundwater and reduce the flow of water to reservoirs.¹ As with Hsuehshan Tunnel, there are many unknown resistive aqueous layers; that means a tremendous amount of water will bust out if they are mistakenly drilled. Workers lives are risked due to unpredictable catastrophes as well as passengers’, and the beautiful scenery will be gone forever.
Secondly, the economy will not be as prosperous as the politicians have claimed. Hsuehshan Tunnel, which is 12.9 kilometers in length, took 15 years to build, and suffered many engineering accidents.² Hsuehshan Tunnel is part of the Bei-yi Freeway, which did not bring the predicted prosperity to Yilan. After the Bei-yi Freeway was finished, the time that tourists stayed in Yilan was reduced, the rate of accommodation also declined. Moreover, the population increasing rate in Yilan did not increase as expected, and it resulted in a lot of empty buildings which were built because of the anticipation of contractors.¹ Likewise, the tourism will not be benefited by the Suhua Freeway, neither will the farming industry. Considering the lost spectacular scenery, the tourism will even be smashed. The Suhua Freeway is now expected to cost more than NT$ 120 billion, yet the economic return cannot be seen.
Third, building the Suhua Freeway is illegal. According to the aborigine basic law, when developing aborigines’ traditional land one must ask opinions of them and share the benefits with them. The freeway passes through a lot of aborigines’ traditional land, but the government did not ask their opinions at all.¹ The government not only neglected the aborigines, but also offended the law.
Finally, the Suhua Freeway is not the only option for developing Eastern Taiwan. To meet the requirements of sustainable development, the first choice should be developing and improving mass transportation systems. For example, the Taroko Train takes only 2 hours and ten minutes for passengers to commute between Taipei and Hualien, and it is already available. Some people say that they prefer to travel by car; one reason is the time cost of moving among spots is less. However, improving the mass transportation in the county can also make moving among spots more convenient. Another reason they want the freeway is to transfer agricultural products and sandstone. This can also be done by improving the rails. Some people suggest a sea transportation solution, a.k.a. Ocean High Speed Rail,³ which can ship passengers as well as trunks and cars. Despite the conflicts and the arguments about the sea transportation solution, it is an alternative way to transport tourists and vehicles, and some people already use this way to ship sandstone occasionally. Some people suggest a so-called New Five Constructions of Hualien,⁴ which focuses on mass transportation systems, emergency transportation, and environmental recovery such as bays. For the sake of protecting the environment, and to meet the requirements of sustainable development, the Suhua Freeway is the worst solution; it should be treated as the last option or not an option at all.
To sum up, considering the environmental effects, the economic return, legitimate justification, and the fact of some better substitutions which are more feasible, I am against building the Suhua Freeway.



References:

1.    (2007). Slowdown, the way out of Hualien. Retrieved March 4, 2008, from http://www.pureht.url.tw/index.php, 14-21, 24-30, 31.

2.    (March 14, 2008). Bei-yi Freeway. Retrieved April 7, 2008, from http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%94%A3%E6%B8%AD%E6%B0%B4%E9%AB%98%E9%80%9F%E5%85%AC%E8%B7%AF.

3.    (April, 2008). Suggested by The Youth against Global Warming League.

4.    (2008). New Five Constructions of Hualien. Retrieved March 23, 2008, from http://campaign.tw-npo.org/200703511050400/announce/New%20Five.doc.